Herbal Tea on a Snowy Night
by iolar abu
Summary: Raven has nightmares and decides to go drink some herbal tea... What will happen when everything goes wrong? BBRae oneshot.


This is just a random oneshot that I though of when I was checking my emails...Hope you like it!

_Disclaimer:_ Nope, I don't own it. (vacant stare) Chocolate ish good!

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_Everything was black, all around her. She could feel the wind swirling around her, almost stealing her off her feet. She turned around in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of something, of anything that would help her recognize where she was. Her eyes were straining, trying to bring in inexistent light. There was no way to see anything._

_It was then that she saw something worse than all the sightless nights ever. In the distance, a red column of light illuminated the sky just long enough for her to see the outline of a person she had hoped to never see again. Trigon was standing only a few hundred meters away, smirking. He knew that she was powerless against him. He knew she couldn't do anything to harm her. Raven stood flew up to his height, trembling. She wouldn't give up. She couldn't give up. Trigon slowly made his way towards her. He was laughing._

"_**So, little girl, are you really expecting to have enough power to face me, your father? You know that no matter what, you cannot better me. Why bother trying. You're just a scared, lonely, little girl who is foolish enough to defy the one who raised her. If you bow now, I might have mercy."**_

_Raven felt her knees shake and forced her body to steady them. She wasn't afraid. She couldn't afford to be afraid.She closed her eyes. When they opened again, four red eyes shone brightly in her darkened face. "You will not win, monster," she whispered in a dead voice._

_At this, Trigon laughed harder. **"I am such a monster, am I? Look at yourself, child! Are you so different from me? If I am a monster, than so are you."** He shot red fire from his eyes. Raven dodged by a hair. She knew, deep down, that she had no chance to win. But she had to keep on trying, no matter what. She grabbed a street lamp with her power and tossed it at Trigon. He pushed it away with the back of his hand, scoffing at her meager attempt to harm him. He retaliated with a blast of red light. This time, the edge of Raven's cape was singed. She tried to feel for something, anything, to throw at him, but she couldn't grasp a single object. She was falling._

_She could hear Trigon's distinctive laughter as she plummeted down. There were no sides, no ledges for her to grab on. She couldn't fly anymore. She could slowly feel her power leaving her, dripping away like water out of a faucet. There was nothing she could do. She was going to die. As she fell deeper, a strange light illuminated the pit. It took a while for her to recognize it as Trigon's doing. He wanted her to see her death coming. 'Of course, it wouldn't be like him to not have it all planned.' The ground was approaching at an alarming speed. She braced herself for impact…_

She fell off her bed. It had been the same dream, the same nightmare that had haunted her ever since their battle against him. Like each time before, sheen of sweat covered her from head to toe. She slowly picked herself off the floor. Going back to sleep wouldn't do her much good; from experience, she knew that her dream would keep on coming back, no matter how many times she tried to think about something else. _'Well, I guess herbal tea sounds pretty good now…'_ She went to get her cape from her closet, wrapping it around her. The tower tended to be rather cold in the middle of winter…and she doubted that she would be warm enough with a simple pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She opened her door and floated down the complex array of hallways that led to the kitchen of Titan's Tower. To her surprise, there was light coming out from under the door. Curiosity won over the desire for solitude and she opened the door.

Beast Boy started as soon as the door opened. Raven suppressed the unwanted desire to chuckle. His face had been priceless… She slowly made her way to the cupboard, grabbing the teapot as she passed. Picking out her favorite variety, she went to the sink and put the water on to boil. She slowly turned around to find the green changeling looking at her inquisitively. Rolling her eyes as obviously as she could, she asked, "What do you want, Beast Boy?"

He smiled, for some strange reason that she couldn't fathom. "I want to know what you're doing down here at two o'clock in the morning…for the fourth day this week?" Raven groaned inwardly. Of course he would want to know. This was Beast Boy we were talking about. She now had two main options. Ignore him while he got continuously more annoying until she lost her temper and hung him upside down by his shoelaces or tie him up by his shoe laces immediately. She decided to go with the first one. After all, maybe Beast Boy was too tired to be annoying…

Five minutes later, Raven was cursing the kettle with every swear-word she knew, trying to keep her growing irritation under control. _'I guess that tofu-dogs really do make Beast Boy even more annoying than usual…How could Cyborg give them to him on the one night when I really want to be alone!'_ Her thoughts were interrupted by the long whistle of boiling water. She almost whopped for joy. Once she poured her cup of tea, she floated over to the sofa, installing herself crossed-legged, slowly blowing on her searing hot tea. It helped her nerves calm down, after the only half-forgotten nightmare. She breathed in the steam deeply. It smelled so good…She could feel her muscles relaxing, one by one. That is, until a certain green-eared boy decided to jump on the couch where Raven was sitting.

The boiling hot liquid spilled all over her, and she hissed, with pain and with anger. Not even bother to think, she picked up Beast Boy and held him upside down. A rush of feelings reminded her of something she had said to Cyborg months ago. _'Whenever I lift something with my powers, I put a little bit of myself into it, just like you did with the T-car.'_ She shuddered. She could vaguely feel Beast Boy's emotions. That meant that he would know about the nightmare…without thinking, she dropped him and ran, leaving a stupefied green changeling on the ground.

She ran as fast as she could, making her way to the roof where she could at least get a breath of fresh air. She needed to breathe…

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Change POV 

Beast Boy had gotten up seconds after she had ran. He had finally broken through to Raven and he wasn't going to let his chance go. He tore after her, knowing as a residue of their mental connection that she was heading for the roof. Morphing into a jaguar, his feet pounding against the ground, he immerged into the moonless night. He looked around for a few seconds before he caught sight of her: she was sitting huddled in a corner of the roof, leaning against a vent. She seemed like she was trying to conceal herself. He slowly made his way towards her. After what he had seen in her head, he didn't want to surprise her.

He had seen all the horror of the repeated nightmares, all the terrifying ordeals that Trigon had put her through the years. He had somehow seen the essence of her soul. And it seemed to have something to do with the fact that she had lifted him with her powers. But the problem was that she had lifted him thousands of times before and he had never ended up seeing all the horrors of her life…

Putting a hand on Raven's shoulder, the sixteen year old changeling sat down beside her. "Uh, Rae, what happened back there?"

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Change of POV 

Raven took a shuddering breath. If she hadn't had those nightmares, it would never had happened. It was all Trigon's fault… She looked at the boy sitting next to her. Here, she knew that she was safe. So she started to explain everything. "Beast Boy, when I use my powers, a small bit of me goes into whatever I'm lifting. That's what happened to you. Except normally, I'm in control of my emotions so there's no transfer whatsoever between me and the thing I'm lifting. But this time, I was mad and was pretty shaken so when I grabbed you, my mind opened to yours. That's not supposed to happen. Never. Because once a bond between two minds is formed, it stays there for eternity. We're connected forever."

She expected Beast Boy to look horrified after her last statement, but he seemed to accept it all with a kind of indifference that shook her more than anything else he could have said. Didn't he understand?

"Rae, what shook you up so badly that you lost control? Last time, it took Doctor Light to get that kind of reaction from you. I know that it was something about Trigon, but you don't have to say more if you don't want to…" He cut off as he felt a tug at his mind. He could feel a part of it where Raven's emotions and thoughts were tucked away neatly. She was scared, but he knew that she would never admit it. Well, it was up to him to help her, even if she didn't realize she wanted and needed it.

He put an arm around her. He knew she needed support, but that she would never ask for it. He smiled as she snuggled closer to him. They sat there for a long time. Raven eventually fell asleep. Beast Boy just kept on looking vaguely out to the city. He only became of how much time had passed when Raven shivered. The sun was starting to appear above the mountains. He transformed into a bear and gently picked up the sleeping girl in his arms. He made his way to Raven's room, where he laid her on the bed. He turned to leave, but turned back at the last second, and laid a soft kiss on her forehead.

A few hours later, Raven woke up, shivering slightly because of her wet clothes. _'Wet clothes??'_ She slowly remembered the events of the night before. It was then that she noticed that it hadn't been the nightmare that had woken her up. She was free of it… She went to get a dry cloak when a note fell out of her closet. It read:

_Don't ever forget, when you need a friend, a comforter, a listener or just someone to be there with you, I'll always stand by your side. And if you don't come to me, I'll know it! Remember Rae, I AM in your head! There's a kettle of boiling water waiting for you on the stove…And a friend waiting to drink tea with you. __BB_

Raven walked out of her room, smiling slightly. Beast Boy drinking tea...Now that was going to be worth a smile or even a laugh!

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Pretty please, press the pretty purple button right under this!!!! (maniacal grin) Please? 

- iolar abu


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